As some of you may or may not know, up until recently I had two Orange bikes The MsIsle for commuting and the odd thrash around a BMX track if I feel like it... and the Patriot for downhill duties.

The patriot has the usual spec list; Boxxers, saint brakes and gears, Hope/mavic wheels etc etc and was very specific to Downhill riding.

Whilst I did really like this bike, it hadn't been used properly since August, which was when I did an uplift day at Cwmcarn. Since then a few mates have bought bikes and we are up at the local trail centre doing 10+ miles of single track... Not exactly ideal for the Patriot, so I've been using the MsIsle. This resulted in the nice bike not being ridden at all, but the commuter/play bike being used 6 days a week, so I decided to swap the frame and fork for something a little less DH specific and something I could pedal uphill too, something I might actually get use out of more than a few times in the summer.

Enter the Nukeproof Mega build.

First step was stripping down the Patriot, the forks have sold, but the frame/shocks/chain device etc is all up for sale if anyone is interested give me a shout.

The first part of the puzzle arrived on Tuesday, a set of 160mm Rockshox Domain 318 in black with a tapered steerer.

Second part of the puzzle arrived early yesterday, A Hope 36T chainring, MRP G2 mini chain device, a seat post shim, and shifter cable and outer.

And then when I got home from work last night I had this waiting for me.

Ohhhhhh stealthy.

I wanted to check all the headset was present and working so put the bits together.

Then I got carried away as I had an hour to spare before I had to be anywhere.

Decided that I needed to test fit as much as I could so i could order anything I needed before the weekend as Im aiming to get out on it on Sunday. After an hour I had to give up, but its 90% complete

REALLY pleased with it so far, Had to order a few little bits from CRC today, including a shock pump as the shock is sagging about 70% into its travel when I'm sat on it.

I'll keep this thread update with my progress though, and get a few more detailed pics up once its finished.

One is definitely on my list if I do decide to set something lighter / more sensible to replace the SX (which I only ended up with because I put a cheeky bid in on eBay, thinking that it would sell for more than I was willing to pay).

Finished it off today, got the rear shock pumped up! It at about 250psi now! Just to get me at 20% sag, but it does feel good! Only had a quick blast around the street, off a few steps, but its a lot plusher than the patriot.

The front fork needs a stiffer spring in it, which I'll do in the next few weeks, along with a shorter stem and slightly wider bar, now I've decided on combo, but that's another £100.

The headset/stem looks better now I've put the gold hope spacers on with gold hed doctor.

It's very very wet here today so unsure I'm gonna get out on it this week now though! Will see! It's gonna be interesting to ride, its very different to the patriot... Long rear stays mean it takes more effort to get on the back wheel. All good fun though I guess!

That looks awesome, only things I would really change are forks and seatpost for a dropper post (obviously you did this on a tighter budget than that though, and i'm sure it's still awesome as it is I can't afford a dropper post yet...)

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